Cape Ann Fresh Catch is a community supported fishery that delivers a variety of fish to about 750 shareholders living from Jamaica Plain to Gloucester. The Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, the Northeast Atlantic Marine Alliance and MIT SeaGrant are organizing the CSF, the largest of seven in the northeast region.

Leslie Friday

A handful of local fishermen have discovered a novel way to skip the middleman and sell their product directly to hundreds of customers on a weekly basis.

Cape Ann Fresh Catch is a community supported fishery launched last week that delivers a variety of fish to about 750 shareholders living from Jamaica Plain to Gloucester. The Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, the Northeast Atlantic Marine Alliance and MIT SeaGrant are organizing the CSF, the largest of seven in the northeast region.

“Forever the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association tried to get local people to eat local fish,” said Angela Sanfilippo, the organization’s president. “This seemed to be a perfect fit at this time.”

The concept models the increasingly popular community supported agriculture movement, in which participants pay local farmers for a share of their harvest before the growing season begins. In turn, shareholders receive a box or bag of fresh fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis.

Both farmers and shareholders benefit from the arrangement. While farmers are guaranteed they have a market for their crops, participants feel comforted in the fact they know from where their food is coming and that most –if not all – is produced organically.

In the same line, community supported fisheries connect local fishermen with shareholders willing to pay them upfront for a weekly supply of fish delivered directly to their communities.

Cape Ann Fresh Catch filled its 750-some shares and has another 500 people on a waiting list. A full share cost $360 and delivers 10 pounds of fish for a 12-week period. A half share is $180 and worth five pounds of fish each week.

Every day except Fridays and Sundays, CSF organizers will distribute shares in a different community, ranging from Jamaica Plain and Cambridge to Acton and Ipswich.

Shareholders receive a variety of fish, including cod, flounder, haddock, hake, dabs, grey sole, pollock and redfish. Crab, shrimp and lobster are also possible finds in each biodegradable bag.

All fish were caught on the same day of their delivery and come whole — cleaned, gutted and packed on ice. That could be one catch, so to speak, for participants who have solely cooked with filleted fish.

Sanfilippo did not see that as a deterrent for customers.

“We want people to get more,” Sanfilippo said. She explained that, when a fish is filleted, 60 percent goes to waste. Giving customers the whole fish promotes the fishing industry’s conservation efforts. Plus, she explained, in many parts of the world people use the entire fish as food.

Yet organizers realize the difficulties some may face staring down a whole fish once back in the kitchen. They are distributing brochures with recipes and hosting demonstrations on the art of filleting and cooking a whole fish at each drop-off point. NAMA’s Web site also explains the process at: www.namanet.org/how-prepare-fresh-whole-fish

Those who snagged a pick-up spot in Gloucester will grab their fish share on Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. at Fishermen’s Wharf on Rogers Street on June 18 and 25. The rest of the season’s Thursday pick-ups will be at the Cape Ann Farmers Market at Harbor Loop, beginning July 2.

Market goers who do not have a share in Cape Ann Fresh Catch will still be able to purchase fish through Steve Connelly’s stand, according to Cape Ann Farmer’s Market manager Nicole Bogin.

NAMA director Niaz Dorry said organizers are discussing whether to launch a parallel community supported fishery to meet popular demand. A shrimp CSF is also in the works for late fall.

Gloucester is host to the first local CSF, but the program began two years ago in Port Clyde, Maine, according to Dorry. At the time, shrimpers faced a rebuilt fishery but a low market. Searching for an alternative marketing method that could attract more customers, they discovered the family farm movement’s community supported agriculture model.

Dorry spoke with GFWA members about launching a CSF on Cape Ann. They then floated the idea at the Cape Ann Farmer’s Market last year and got favorable survey responses. Market supporters were later informed of Cape Ann Fresh Catch via e-mail. Those interested filled out a contract and sent in their checks to become official shareholders.

Under the community supported fishery model, fishermen are paid a set rate per pound of fish. Six boats have signed on with Cape Ann Fresh Catch, which pays $2 per pound of fish, regardless the species.

“The thing that will change for fishermen participants is really that they get to keep everything that they catch,” Dorry said. “Now they keep what gets the highest price.”

That could mean that fishermen haul in less per run, but still earn the same amount for a day’s work.

“Everything comes down to dollars and cents,” Sanfilippo said. She also thought the arrangement could keep fishermen along safer shores instead of chasing bigger pay fish in choppier waters.

Meanwhile, the first fish pick-ups have been a success. Dorry said shareholders she spoke with praised organizers and wondered what took so long for fish and seafood to join the local food movement menu.

“There’s a whole movement of people who are paying attention to the production mechanisms employed to the food they eat,” Dorry said.

Cape Ann Beacon

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